Spectrophotometric Determination of Trace Amounts of Fluoride Using an Al-Xylenol Orange Complex as a Colored Reagent

A new spectrophotometric reagent for the determination of trace amounts of fluoride has been introduced. This method is based on the decolorization of a complex of Al(III) with xylenol orange (XO) as an ultra-sensitive colored reagent. Since the Al-XO complex plays an important role in this method, the protonation and complexation of XO with Al(III) at an ionic strength of 0.1 mol L-1 at 25 degrees C has been studied by a spectrophotometric global analysis method. The EQUISPEC program was used to evaluate the protonation constants of XO and the stability constants of the formed complexes with Al(III). The protonation and the stability constants of the major complex species such as ML, MLH and MLH2, were determined. Finally, a spectrophotometric method for the assay of fluoride based on a decrease of the color intensity of the Al-XO complex, in an aqueous solution has been designed. The effects of some important variables on the determination of fluoride based on the proposed method were investigated. The method was applied to the determination of fluoride under the optimum conditions (pH 5.2, ionic strength 0.1 mol L-1, 25 degrees C). The determination of fluoride in the range of 0.08 - 1.4 mu s mL(-1) (SD = 1.2%) was successfully performed. Interferences of Fe(III) were easily eliminated by using ascorbic acid. The proposed method was applied to the determination of trace amounts of fluoride content of some real water samples.